And then there were two

Well, turned out it actually was a pretty funny idea for a blog. (see previous post)

















P.S. Harper maintained this hysteria for at least 5 uninterrupted minutes. He's a comic genius.

Getting Back On

People toss around the saying, "It's like riding a bike," all the time, implying that something you used to do with ease will once again become familiar and effortless, even if it doesn't quite feel that way right now. This colloquialism could currently be used to understand my current relationship with the wonderful world of blogging.

Like riding a bike, blogging gets harder and harder to start back up once you've neglected to write for a while. Next thing you know you have a muffin top (an endearing term my sister likes to throw around - it means: your gut is hanging over your pants) and your old Huffy is rusted with one flat tire and in desperate need of a little WD-40 on your bike chain. Your good intention to blog turns into no blogs, not even bad blogs, in what all the sudden somehow has turned into a couple of weeks.

Suddenly a charming idea you had of blogging about your dog hanging out on the couch with a blanket draped over his head doesn't quite seem to cut it. No, this next blog back after weeks of hiatus needs to be epic and touching and wonderful.

So, unless you suddenly turn into David Sedaris or Ernest Hemingway (not that they're anything alike), you'll never end up doing it, because it's just too big to write. But you have to start somewhere. You have to pick it up again. So, here's my offering. I'm getting out my bike pump and I'm greasing up my chain.

And all of the sudden, the pressure's gone. I guess that's what helmets are for.

Voter 789 at my precinct

A Reason To Celebrate

After much anticipation, many phone calls and some thinly veiled threats made to disown my family if they didn't call me the moment it happened, my beautiful niece Madelaine Grace was born last week. And she couldn't have picked a cooler day for it either - Dia de los Muertos (translation: Day of the Dead).

Sure, it might be a morbid sounding holiday, but I happen to think it is a great one to be born on. It isn't the kind of holiday that will overshadow a birthday and everyone is in a celebratory mood, because instead of mourning the loss of their loved ones, they're throwing them the kind of party that they think their loved ones would have enjoyed. What better way to honor a person's memory than by eating their favorite foods, dancing to their favorite music and reminiscing about all the good times you've had together. I attended my local Dia de los Muertos celebration last night which consisted of some excellent tamales, a mariachi band playing festive tunes and checking out all of the interesting items people had placed on a remembrance alter. A good time was had by all.

So little Lainey - welcome to the family and get ready for some pretty excellent birthday celebrations. I hope you like tamales.

Beck-oning to be Seen

**Note to friends of the blog: I replaced the video for your viewing enjoyment. Enjoy**

I saw the greatest SNL performance ever last Saturday while hanging out with my husband and my Dad in middle-of-nowhere Minnesota. Of course, the fact that it was seen on an 80" screen didn' hurt matters at all. It's the kind of performance that makes you happy and awestruck all at the same time. So, without further ado, here's Beck doing his thing: